HS2 boss Kirby quits for Rolls-Royce

He joined the project in May 2014 from Network Rail, where he was managing director of its infrastructure projects business.

HS2 chairman David Higgins said Kirby had used his “vast experience to recruit and shape a world-class team which over the coming years and decades will turn HS2 into a reality that will be of lasting benefit to this country”.

HS2 has also announced the appointment of Mel Amey, formerly chief executive of Amey, as a non-executive director.